Inventec first quarter sales up almost 16 percent

TAIPEI--Inventec Corp., one of Taiwan's leading notebook computer ODM service providers, said its consolidated sales for the first quarter rose almost 16 percent from a year earlier on the back of deferred orders from its major clients from the second half of last year.

During the January-March period, Inventec posted NT$116.68 billion (US$3.89 billion) in consolidated sales, up 15.8 percent from a year earlier. However, the first-quarter sales still fell 13.33 percent from the fourth quarter due to the slow-season effect.

In March alone, Inventec recorded NT$40.74 billion in consolidated sales, up 21.35 percent from a month earlier, and also up 15.87 percent from a year earlier.

The notebook computer maker said that as the number of working days in March returned to normal compared with February, when the Lunar New Year holiday was celebrated, its notebook computer shipments for March totaled 1.7 million units, up 30.77 percent from a month earlier.

Inventec said that as global demand for personal computers remains slow, the company has been gearing up to diversify its product portfolio to offset the impact from the weakness of the PC market.

The company said its server shipments are expected to benefit from stable orders from international brands and that it is possible servers could account for more than 25 percent of total sales this year.

In addition, solar energy product sales could double this year to make up 2-3 percent of the company's total revenue, Inventec said.

Inventec said it expects it will secure more orders for smartphone assembly to boost shipments of its handheld devices to 35 million-40 million units this year, up from 30 million units recorded in 2013.

The company said sales generated from handheld devices are expected to grow about 10 percent in 2014 compared with 2013.